Chapter 10: Gladion stuns Everyone: Roar Blue Eyes White Dragon
Yugi and his friends watched the smoke trail from the launched rocket. "What the heck was that all about," Lillie asked, trying to recover from her nearly falling out of the truck.
"Looked like some sort of rocket," Joey commented.
"Launched by the Big 5," Yugi guessed.
"Maybe," Tea agreed.
"I know it was them," said Ash as he helped Lillie and Serenity after they nearly fell out of the truck. Tristan rushed over to Serenity and asked if she was okay with monkey noises. Pikachu noticed a switch on the robot monkey's head. Curious, he used his tail to push it forward just as Serenity said she was okay.
"That's a relief," Tristan said. Everyone's eyes widened. "Was that me," Tristan asked out loud. Everyone nodded. Pikachu pointed out the switch on Tristan's head, and everything became clear. The switch was meant to give Tristan the ability to speak. Tristan turned to Pikachu. "Thanks, little dude. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to communicate with everyone."
Pikachu Pikachu chu (Don't mention it).
Serenity picked Pikachu up and kissed him on the head, causing Pikachu to squeal happily. "You are so cute and smart."
"Okay, now that We can understand Tristan, let's catch up to Gladion and Kaiba," said Duke.
"He's right. Joey, let's get going." Joey nodded and restarted the truck, and soon the gang was back on Kaiba and Gladion's trail.
Back at Gladion and Kaiba's duel, Lector was saying, "Where were we? Oh yeah, I had five times as many life points as you, and it's still my turn."
(K: 700)
(G: 3150)
(L: 3925)
"Now I'm about to eliminate you! First, I'll activate Lily's special ability by giving up 2000 life points!"
(K: 700)
(G: 3150)
(L: 1525)
"Lily, attack his Behemoth with Hypodermic Shot!" Kaiba's two-headed dragon was destroyed.
"When my Behemoth is destroyed, it automatically returns to the field in defense mode with fewer points," Kaiba said as his monster reappeared.
(THB: 1500-1000, 1200-1000)
"Fine, now I'll activate the magic card Cure Master, which lets me raise my life points by 1000, no questions asked." Lector said using the magic card increased his life points
(K: 700)
(G: 3150)
(L: 2525)
Kaiba scowled, "That meant he could use Lily's special ability again and not lose the duel." Gladion realized this but knew he was one card away from screwing Lector's strategy up. "By the way, Mr. Kaiba, Mr. Aether, remember that rocket I launched earlier? Well, keep an eye on its energy gauge." The card picture had transformed into an energy gauge that was slowly climbing.
By this time, the others have arrived on the bridge. Yugi and Joey jumped out and ran to the edge. "Kaiba!" Yugi called.
"Gladion," Lillie called out to her brother.
Kaiba turned around. "Yugi." Gladion did the same to acknowledge that he heard his sister.
Noah, Annie, Oakley, and Mokuba were watching all this on the screen, "How sweet," Noah said snidely. "The whole gang's here. Now Seto will have an audience to witness his destruction."
"My brother will stop that creep," Mokuba snapped. "Then he'll come and rescue me."
Annie chuckled, "You seem confident that your brother cares about you," he observed. "Well, you're wrong!"
Mokuba gasped.
"Hey Yug, would you look at that? Kaiba and Gladion are up against one of the meanest, badest monsters around."
"That's right, Joey, it's Jinzo, and if that's the Deck Master, that means that Kaiba and Gladion can't use any of their trap cards."
"That's not fair," Tea complained. "It's like dueling with half a deck."
"A third of a deck, actually," Ash corrected. "Kaiba and Gladion can still use monster and magic cards."
"But that doesn't change the fact that they both have a severe handicap," Duke pointed out.
Gladion drew a card. "Still, nothing," he thought. "I pass."
"Even at a handicap, I can outduel this old geezer," Kaiba thought as he drew a card. He chuckled, "Looks like there's foul weather ahead. I play the magic card Heavy Storm. Now all your magic and trap cards are destroyed!"
"No, they're not. I reveal my final facedown card, Imperial Order. Now you can't play any magic cards. All I have to do is pay 700 life points during every one of my turns."
"Oh, Crab baskets," Ash muttered, realizing the very dire situation that Gladion was in. Lillie was extremely nervous about her brother's situation.
"It's my turn now. First, I gain 500 life points from Solemn Wishes and another 1000 from Life Absorbing Machine, and then I pay 700 life points to keep Imperial Order in play."
(K: 700)
(G: 3150)
(L: 2825)
"Then I'll activate my Satellite Cannon!"
A satellite with a giant laser cannon hovered high in space, targeting Kaiba's side of the field since it arrived. Upon receiving a signal, it charged up and fired an intense beam toward the planet.
A large shaft of energy obliterated Kaiba's Wicked Worm Beast (1400/700). The blast was so powerful that it sent shockwaves coursing outward. Yugi and the gang held onto their truck to protect themselves.
"How can we stop a weapon that's up there?" Gladion wondered.
"You can't," Lector pointed out. "My Satellite Cannon can withstand attacks from almost any Duel Monster."
"Oh no," Lillie cried. Ash put a hand on her shoulder.
"Lillie, calm down. No monster is invincible. It does have a weakness."
"You're about to lose everything, Mr. Kaiba," Lector said. "Serves you right for destroying your own stepfather and betraying the Big 5. Now you will pay the price for using others to get what you want, including your brother!"
"What the heck is he talking about?" Joey asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Duke answered.
"I find it hard to believe that Kaiba would use Mokuba like that," Ash said.
"I agree, Ash," Yugi said.
"It's a lie!" Mokuba cried out. "My brother would never do something like that."
"Mokuba," Noah said calmly. "It's about time you learned the harsh truth about your brother."
"What do you mean?" Mokuba asked nervously.
"Listen to what Lector has to say."
"Your betrayal began when your stepfather, Gozaburo, gave you ten million dollars to test your business skills. Gozaburo was impressed at your abilities and your cruelty. And impressing Gozaburo Kaiba is no easy feat. Believe me, I tried. But that wasn't good enough for you, was it, Mr. Kaiba? No, now that you had a taste of power, you found that you wanted more. And there was only one way to do it.
"I called you five here because my stepfather treats you like crap. It's not fair. Johnson, you only are used to protect KaibaCorp. Crump, your counting skills are the best in the world, but I believe my stepfather has been wasting your abilities on needless calculations. All of you deserve better, and I'm willing to offer you more."
"What do you mean, Mr. Kaiba?"
"Simple, Lector, if we were to take control of Kaiba Corporation away from my stepfather, we would be able to run it as a team. And I guarantee you that, when the takeover is complete, all of you will be incredibly wealthy and immensely powerful."
"We all started buying up as many shares of Kaiba Corp. as possible. But we soon discovered that we had problems. It was getting harder to acquire stock shares in the company. Somebody was tipping Gozaburo off, and you told everyone it was Mokuba. We even believed it after you assaulted him in your room."
He did what. Ash thought, horrified.
"How could you, Mokuba? I thought you were my brother, but you betrayed me!"
"No, Seto, it wasn't me!"
"Liar! Get out of my sight, and I never want to see you again!"
Mokuba clenched his knees. "That was the most horrible day of my life," he said, trying to hold back tears.
Heartbroken, Mokuba turned to the only other person who might understand, Gozaburo!
"I see, so Seto thinks you betrayed him and assaulted you."
"Yes, sir, I thought I would come and tell you.
"You did the right thing, kid. The only thing I hate more than failure is traitors. Rest assured, all traitors will get what's coming to them."
"Yes, sir."
"I'd like to thank you for bringing this to my attention. I reward those who are faithful to me, and here is your reward, two percent of Kaiba Corp."
"Two percent?"
"That's right, and between the two of us, Seto and the Big 5 don't stand a chance."
"So, on that fateful day, the six of us stood as one against your stepfather, Gozaburo."
"The Big 5 and I are sick of your tyrannical rule, so we're taking control of Kaiba Corp!"
"Hah, nice try, kid, but you've failed."
"No, I haven't. I've already brought 51 of Kaiba Corp."
"Actually, you have only 49."
"What?"
"You heard me, and I felt you might betray me, so I put two percent of shares to a silent partner, and without 51, the takeover can not happen. You've failed, boy. As for the five of you, you're all fired for betraying me! Clean out your desks. I never want to see any of you in this town again! And as for you, Seto, you are returning to the Orphanage where all riff-raff like you belong!"
"No, he's not!"
"Mokuba!"
"What do you mean he's not?"
"You can't fire the new President of Kaiba Corp."
"But I'm the president!"
"Not anymore. I'm giving Seto my two, so he now has the 51 he needs."
"NOOOOO!"
"Gozaburo disappeared shortly after that," Lector concluded. "Everyone said he committed suicide, and it was all your fault! You played us all for fools, Kaiba! It wasn't Mokuba who leaked our plans to Gozaburo. It was you all along!"
"No way!" Mokuba gasped. "I don't believe it!"
"He has to be lying," a tearful Lillie cried.
"You're just like your stepfather, and you always like to let your opponent think he's winning before you crush him. So you deliberately leaked information to Gozaburo's spies and made him think it was Mokuba so that you could get Gozaburo to give Mokuba his share of the company. You knew your brother would remain loyal to you no matter how badly you treated him."
"That's messed up," Gladion thought bitterly.
"Mokuba was the only one I ever fully trusted," Kaiba said in his defense. "I knew we could take our stepfather down together."
"You used him and took advantage of his trust!"
"Stop," Mokuba pleaded. "I don't want to hear anymore!"
"You used him and us," Lector accused.
"I've heard enough of your whining," Gladion snapped. "If you can't win, then don't play the game. And speaking of game, it's my move!" Gladion drew a card and smirked. "Your life point combo is done. I sacrifice my dragon to summon Jinzo."
Everyone's eyes widened as an exact copy of Lector's Deck Master appeared in front of Gladion. "Yes," Joey shouted, pumping his fist. Lillie hugged Ash, happy that her brother had turned the duel around.
"NO, NOT THAT," Lector shouted in horror.
Gladion's Jinzo destroyed Lector's Solemn Wishes, Life-Absorbing Machine, and Imperial Order.
"Now I activate Block Attack, switching your Fairy to defense mode." Lector's visible monster was switched to defense mode. "Now, Jinzo, destroy that nuisance with Cyber Energy Shock." Gladion's Jinzo destroyed Lector's Fairy. "I end my turn."
"Nice," said Duke. "Now Lector's best cards are gone."
Yugi nodded. "Yep, now if they can Destroy Lector's last Monster, they can win this."
Kaiba did not want to admit it, but he was impressed with Gladion's play. "It's my move. I summon Spirit-Ryu in Attack mode and end my turn."
Lector drew his card. "You will pay for that last move Mr. Aether. Satellite Cannon target one of Mr. Aether's defense mode monsters." Lector's Cannon fired and obliterated Gladion's Cave Dragon (2000/100). "I play a monster in defense mode and end my turn. I will soon retake control of this duel, and then you will pay Mr. Aether."
"Wrong, this duel is over," Gladion declared, drawing his next card. "I sacrifice two of my monsters to summon The Blue Eyes White Dragon."
"WHAT?!" Everyone, minus Ash and Lillie, shouted.
Kaiba's signature card appeared in front of Gladion.
"No way," Mokuba said in surprise, seeing someone other than his brother using a Blue Eyes.
"HOW DARE THIS PUNK USE BLUE EYES?" Kaiba thought, furious at his ace monster being used by someone other than himself.
"No way," said Tea, stunned.
"Gladion is using Rich Boy's monster," Joey said, just as stunned.
"This has been a strange day," Yami said to Yugi. "First, Lillie uses our ace monster to win her first duel. Now her brother uses Kaiba's ace monster to win." "No kidding," said Yugi.
"This duel is done. Blue Eyes end this duel, "Gladion shouted. The mighty dragon flapped its wings and ascended into the air. Gladion then revealed something that Lector forgot, "Satellite Cannon only has attack points when it's about to attack. Otherwise, its attack points are... 0!"
"NO!" Lector realized what Gladdion meant as he forgot about that side effect of Satellite Cannon.
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon came out of orbit and faced the Satellite Cannon. It fired its White Lightning Attack and destroyed it.
(K: 700)
(G: 3150)
(L: 0)
The pieces of the Satellite Cannon burned up in orbit, making it appear like fireworks.
Yugi and the others cheered Kaiba and Gladion's victory.
Lillie was hugging Ash in pure happiness at her brother's victory.
Kaiba suddenly dashed forward and grabbed Lector by his cloak, "Now tell me where Mokuba is!"
"You'll never see your brother again," Lector said as he began to dissolve. "But you will see me again. Count on it!" And before Kaiba could demand any more information, Lector disappeared.
That's all the Members of the Big 5 dealt with, said Yugi.
"If we could get my body back and rescues Mokuba, we could get out of here," said Tristan.
"Yes, way to go, Seto. Even if you didn't deliver the final blow, I knew you wouldn't lose," Mokuba cheered.
"Mokuba, how could you still cheer for him?" Noah asked, bewildered.
"He used you in his takeover of Kaiba Corp," Annie said, just as stunned at the kid's loyalty to Kaiba. Oakley was speechless.
"I'll stand by my brother no matter what," Mokuba declared. "We're family, and nothing will ever separate us!"
Noah scowled darkly, "I'll show him, family."
"Mokuba," Kaiba muttered. "I'M COMING MOKUBA!"
Done with this chapter courteous of my collab partner DraconicFireLord for writing this chapter and myself for editing it. How did you like that twist with Gladdion? The Jinzo was technically my idea, and while we both agreed to the Blue Eyes moment for Gladdion, it was still fun to put in. As for reviews, I know many of you are waiting on more AshxLillie moments, but please, more reviews would be excellent. We do appreciate the reception this story is getting on both ends. Whether it be here, Deviantart, A03, Furraffinity, or Wattpad, where he is posting this story. But reviews would be excellent. When the next chapter is out, it will be for a while, so I will try to post my other stories as my Collab writer will be busy in the coming week. See you next time.